Head of Procurement

Head of Procurement

Surrey/Sussex Border | £Competitive (Neg, DOE) + Bonus + Benefits | Office-Based

This highly successful and growing business is seeking an experienced Head of Procurement to lead its procurement and supply planning function. This is a key leadership role with responsibility for developing procurement strategy, managing strategic supplier relationships, ensuring supply continuity, and driving commercial value across a diverse product portfolio.

The Opportunity

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping procurement strategy, mitigating supply chain risk, and ensuring products are sourced cost-effectively and responsibly. Working closely with Commercial, Finance, Operations, Logistics and Technical teams, you'll contribute to business growth while developing a high-performing procurement function.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement the procurement and supply planning strategy.
• Lead, develop and motivate a procurement team, building capability and succession plans.
• Deliver strategic sourcing initiatives, supplier selection processes and commercial negotiations.
• Build and manage senior-level supplier relationships, driving performance and continuous improvement.
• Oversee supply risk management, business continuity planning and resilience strategies.
• Set direction for inventory management, stock policies and working capital optimisation.
• Support commercial teams with tenders, pricing exercises and customer opportunities.
• Ensure compliance with quality, ethical sourcing and sustainability requirements.
• Monitor commodity, freight, supplier and market trends, translating insight into commercial advantage.
• Lead procurement governance, reporting and continuous improvement initiatives.

About You

You'll be an accomplished procurement leader with experience operating in a food, FMCG or international product-based environment, with strong commercial acumen, excellent stakeholder management skills and a proven ability to lead teams through growth and change.

Key requirements include:

• Significant senior procurement and sourcing experience.
• Proven leadership of procurement, purchasing or supply chain teams.
• Strong negotiation, supplier management and contract management expertise.
• Experience managing international supply chains and supply continuity risks.
• Excellent analytical and financial skills.
• Strong understanding of inventory, forecasting and supplier performance management.
• Experience working closely with commercial, operations and finance stakeholders.
• Knowledge of international logistics, imports and global supply chain considerations.

Package

• Competitive salary, negotiable depending on experience.
• Performance-related bonus opportunities
• Pension, healthcare and life assurance
• 25 days holiday, increasing with service, plus bank holidays